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Working dads want more quality time with their sons

A massive 84% of dads wish they could devote more of their time to father-son bonding, according to a new survey

Working dads don’t think they get to spend quality time with their sons, according to new research.

A whopping 84% of 1,000 dads polled want to spend more one-on-one time with their sons, and 79% agreed they’d like to build a better father-son bond. The activities dads most enjoyed doing with their sons included playing with toys, football and other sports, going to the cinema, reading and bike riding.

Nearly half of the 1,000 dads surveyed by toy company Bandai, who make Ben 10, said that having to stay late at work was one of the main reasons why they didn’t spend more time with their sons. More than a third admitted to working at the weekend, meaning they miss out on key family time.

Because of this many rely on phone calls to keep up with what their boys are up to. But that’s no substitute for face-to-face time, especially as dads’ role in parenting is seen to be more and more important.

The study revealed that one in three dads were feeling the pressure at work, even more thanks to the recession, with over half spending more time in the office than they did two years ago. The consequence of this is that nearly half said they were too exhausted when they got home from work to spend quality time with their son.

Bandai has launched a ‘Ben 10 minutes’ campaign to encourage dads to spend more quality time with their sons and share their experiences on Facebook.